The Gift of Life

Last Saturday’s mass turned out to be quite nerve-wracking for all of us because we had to bring Erin along with us as she was going to be presented to the parishioners and welcomed into the Catholic community. It was a very cold night and we were afraid that Erin might feel uncomfortable and end up crying the whole time in church. Good thing her aunt J was there to help us make her go to sleep while the presentation was going on.

It was a full house at the Holy Family Church at Gowrie because some kids were also having their first communion that night. Good thing we were able to get some seats. And since the church was fully packed, there were lots of people who came to bless Erin as she was being presented. As in, pila talaga!

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Erin officially became a Catholic last Sunday, the 27th of May. She was exactly ten weeks old. There were three other kids who were also scheduled to be baptised that day. And out of all of them, Erin was the loudest! Hay naku, of all the time in the world, this little baby decided to make her baptism a crying session from start to finish. I’m sure everybody will remember her for this. hehehe…

At the reception venue, it was like playing ‘Pass the Parcel’ as Erin hopped from one set of arms to another. This time she was not crying anymore. Apparently, she was enjoying herself, being entertained by all the different faces that greeted her. She’s always like this whenever we attend a party. Hmm.. something tells me she might be a party-goer when she grows up.

As with every Filipino party, food was overflowing! We couldn’t have done it without the help of Mama, Ate J, Ninang E and some of our very good family friends. The yummy and beautiful two-layer cake by C was also a wonderful delight. C also did the cake for my baby shower last March.

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Poor Erin developed a cold today. It must be due to the weather here. Also, she’s been out of the house for three consecutive days. Her exposure to the freezing temperature must definitely be the culprit.

She’s been sneezing every so often and sometimes her nose get so stuffy she can hardly breathe. And because of this, she can only sleep for short periods. Nakakaawa talaga! I hope she gets better soon.

Here’s how Erin looks at 2 months:

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At two months, she also had her second batch of vaccines (first time was right after she was born — for Hepatitis B and Vitamin K). This second set included vaccines for Hepatitis B (hepB), Diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (acellular pertussis) (DTPa), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Polio (inactivated poliomyelitis IPV), and Pneumococcal conjugate (7vPCV). The first five vaccines were injected on one leg, the pneumococcal conjugate on the other.

Erin was already crying when we arrived at the community health centre yesterday morning. She was tired and wanted to take a nap. But that proved to be impossible because we had to undress her to expose her thighs. I was anxious myself because I had to hold her very well to keep her still so that the nurse could properly inject both thighs with the vaccines. I had to look away as it was happening because I couldn’t bear to see the actual procedure. I was left with no choice but to look at poor Erin’s crying face as she screamed with pain. I thought she would go on crying for hours. But surprisingly enough, she immediately stopped wailing when the whole thing was over.

She’s been such a good little girl now, I tell you. She wasn’t as fussy as I’d thought her to be when we got home. After twenty four hours, she was back to her normal self. We knew because she greeted us with her cute little smile when she woke up the following morning.

What a godsend this contraption is! Whoever invented it is a genius! My mom left for a short trip to Melbourne early this morning, leaving Erin and me alone at home for the entire day. I thought I was going to have my hands full for as long as mom’s not around (meaning: can’t do much anything else but tend to Erin). But today really just surprised me! I did a little experiment and used the bouncer as an aid. As soon as Erin drifted to sleep, I gently placed her on the bouncer, making sure the vibration modewas turned on. Lo and behold, she slept on that thing for at least an hour and I am dumbfoundedly left with empty hands! I was able to wash and hang her clothes on the line outside, tidy the house a bit, prepare her bath, set the table for dinner, eat, wash a few dirty dishes and obviously, blog (with both hands free). I am seriously considering of getting the toddler rocker for future use.

I guess she really has grown up. She’s not anymore the fussy little newborn we once knew. There was once a time (maybe a few weeks ago) that I thought this day would never come. But, come it did! Poor Erin! I underestimated the little bub. *sigh* All’s well that ends well. Maybe we won’t need to stay at QE anymore. *still crossing my fingers*

I got a letter from this organization in the mail today. It seems like our maternity and child health nurse E wasn’t so pleased with Erin’s progress in settling and feeding. I think she was the one who referred and booked us at QE.

I’m not really surprised. To this date, Erin still has major settling issues which we just can’t seem to resolve. Although she isn’t as fussy as before, still she has difficulty in trying to sleep on her own. Most of the time we can’t place her down on the bassinet because it doesn’t take long for her to wake up and start crying again. Then we’d have to pick her up and try to soothe her to sleep once more. It’s a vicious cycle and it’s very frustrating especially when she does this in the wee hours of the morning.

This concerns me a lot, especially since my mom will be departing soon and I’m left all alone to take care of Erin while J’s in the office working. I’m afraid I won’t be able to do much of the rest of the chores if this keeps up.

We have been booked from the 6th to the 10th of June. Erin’s got a month to shape up or else I may have to confirm that booking at QE. *crossing my fingers*